


Just Like You (Just Like Me)

by Nerd_of_Camelot



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Basically, Dimension Travel, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Magical Tattoos, Not Beta Read, Parallel Universes, Self-Indulgent, Slice of Life, Sort Of, Strong Female Characters, Swearing, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Good Place (TV) References, Young Lydia Deetz and Older Lydia Deetz become best friends, also be your own weird aunt lmao, and Older Lydia Deetz has Cryptid Businesswoman Vibes, and a lot of magic, be the strong female role model your younger self needed, sort of vague tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26816074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot
Summary: When a 24 year old Lydia Deetz falls into the kitchen of a 15 year old Lydia Deetz and her family, shenanigans swiftly ensue...Including, but not limited to, using a parasol to fly like a broom, randomly bursting into song, and teaching younger versions of yourself to love themselves as they are so that one day they can be as happy as you are.
Relationships: Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Lydia Deetz & Lydia Deetz
Kudos: 11





	Just Like You (Just Like Me)

**Author's Note:**

> Do I know what this is? No.  
> Did I have a shitton of fun writing it? Absolutely.  
> Is this totally self-indulgent and written to appeal specifically to me? You betcha!
> 
> I wrote this in literally like a total of two hours lmao
> 
> Title sort of from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper song "I Am Girl Like You"

Lydia thought that, generally, things in her life had gone back to the status quo with a few important changes―primarily the Maitlands.

It had been nearly a year since the whole B-J debacle and things seemed pretty much… Normal. But in a good way, sort of. Things were predictable and she was completely alright with that, for once. As long as she had an idea of what to expect on a day-to-day basis it was okay, because she knew at the end of the day she’d come home to Delia and her dad, and Adam and Barbara, and Adam would help her study and when she did well on tests she and Adam and Barbara would celebrate. She took a lot of pictures and hung out in the graveyard to talk to the few ghosts that were actually there because they  _ delighted _ in having someone who could see them.

It was… Normal? In a weird sort of way that she adored.

However, today had been…

An  _ adventure. _

It had all started right after she woke up―it was Saturday, so she’d woken in the late morning and trudged down to the kitchen for breakfast. She’d scarcely poured a glass of orange juice and said good morning to her two sets of parents before, well…

There was a flash of light, an indignant shout, and the tell-tale thump of someone landing harshly on the kitchen floor after falling a decent distance.

Lydia had nearly dropped her glass of orange juice, only barely managing to catch it before she shoved it onto the counter to ensure she  _ wouldn’t _ drop it. Delia’s cup of water did not fare so well, and shattered into a million pieces.

But then she’d whirled to see who or what had landed in the kitchen, and found herself looking at… Her mom?

No, not her mom.

But someone who looked an awful lot like her.

The woman before her had long black hair piled up into a bun atop her head, long black nails filed almost into claws, pale skin, a flowy black blouse, and hight-waisted black jeans with knee high combat boots, and she seemed dazed as she picked herself up from the floor.

“Of all the  _ stupid fucking―” _ The woman was spitting under her breath, only to pause and go very quiet when her eyes met Lydia’s.

Her eyes widened, incrementally, until they were almost comically large, and then she began to look at her surroundings.

“Oh,” She said, very calmly considering the look on her face, “Oh, no.”

Before anything else could be said, there was another flash of light, and a closed umbrella clattered to the ground next to the woman, only barely missing jabbing her right in the gut. The woman’s face had flashed from surprise to annoyance to grim acceptance faster than Lydia could really keep track of, and then the woman was picking herself, and the umbrella, up off of the ground and getting fully to her feet.

“Well, this is a fine mess.” She said, none-too-pleased, “I’m  _ really _ sorry for interrupting your breakfast.”

“... Lydia?” Lydia heard her dad ask, voice soft and very weak.

She looked at him, but so did the woman.

That was weird, why―

Oh.

_ Oh. _

“... In a manner of speaking,” The other Lydia said, carefully, “Not yours, as far as I’m aware. I don’t remember this happening to me.”

Her dad slowly nodded, then promptly fainted.

Delia yelped, quickly moving to catch him, and Lydia simply stood there, unsure of what to say or think. Surely this wasn’t… This wasn’t  _ her? _ It couldn’t be. And yet, she…

Well, it would explain why Lydia had mistaken her for her mom at first. Her dad was always telling her she looked like her mom.

“I’m sorry,” Said Barbara, as she slowly stood from the table, “I’m… Not sure I understand?”

The other Lydia had turned to her, blinking in mild surprise, “Oh, Barbara, hello. I― Well, it’s a long story, I suppose. But to cut it short, I’m fairly certain I’ve just been tossed into a parallel dimension to yours.” A glance was thrown toward Lydia, “Though this one is… About a decade prior to mine, it seems. How old are you?” This was addressed to Lydia.

“Fifteen,” She’d managed to say, because being shocked totally speechless wasn’t her thing.

“Nine years, then,” The other Lydia had nodded like that made all the sense in the world, “My point stands. Anyway, again, very sorry. I… Wish I could say I know how to get back where I’m supposed to be, but I’m kind of at a loss. I didn’t even know this was possible.”

“You’re… Very calm about it,” Adam noted, standing as well and putting an arm around the still-bewildered Barbara.

“Adult life is already so goddamned weird,” The other Lydia sighed, “This may as well happen.”

Adam and Barbara nodded, a little, and Lydia was still sort of at a loss.

“Anyway, since no real introductions are in order, I guess I should start by giving you something to call me  _ other _ than my first name, since that would get… Confusing.” The other Lydia mused, “You can call me Shadow.”

“Shadow?” Lydia had asked, unsure.

The other Lydia smiled, finally, and laughed a bit, “Oh, friend of mine started calling me the Kindly Shadow in college. It stuck.”

“Okay,” Lydia had said, carefully, and turned to grab her orange juice and take a long swig from it.

Shadow clutched her umbrella and peeked over at Charles and Delia, who were simply sitting on the floor and seemed to be processing.

And the rest of the day had been just as weird. Shadow went out of her way to be unobtrusive and stay out of the way, but she still managed to draw attention simply by  _ existing _ in a way that Lydia hadn’t ever been able to do. Maybe it was something she learned later? Either way, the skull-blouse wearing woman simply commanded attention while she moved quietly about the house and investigated any differences she came across.

Or at least that’s what Lydia assumed she was doing.

Regardless, time and again she would just find herself watching Shadow, and Shadow kept doing weird things. Like pulling things out of her obviously empty sleeves or tossing items over her shoulder only for them to vanish midair. Or tapping things with the end of her umbrella and somehow changing the color, but  _ only _ minutely, then giggling mischievously as she slunk away from it.

And, on one notable occasion, she’d snapped her fingers when she had an idea, and a  _ whole, lit lightbulb had appeared above her head. _

So, yeah.

Lydia had  _ thought _ her life was generally sort of normal, but today had been  _ something _ so far.

And the sun had only  _ just _ started to go down, so there was still plenty of time for things to keep being weird!

“Okay,” She found herself saying, approaching Shadow as she investigated one of Delia’s statues, “I’ll bite. How do you keep doing that stuff? You’re not, like, a ghost, are you?”

Shadow didn’t even seem surprised. She just grinned, eyes twinkling, and said, “Oh, no, not a ghost. Still very much alive. See?” She offered a bare wrist, and Lydia went ahead and checked for a pulse. She found a strong one. “But I guess you could say I’m pretty gifted with magic.”

Lydia was glad she wasn’t holding anything, or she may have dropped it.

“Yeah?” She asked, for lack of anything better to say.

“I started studying when I was about your age,” Shadow elaborated, “Turns out we’ve got a real knack for it―comes with the Strange and Unusual thing, you know? And now I’m so goddamned good at it I can’t always contain it.”

“Huh,” Lydia said, because while it was…  _ Weird… _ That  _ did _ sort of check out. “So you, like, produce your own magical energy?”

“Everyone does,” Shadow intoned wisely, “But I produce a lot more than most people, yeah.”

Unable to come up with anything to say to that, Lydia merely nodded.

Shadow gave her a sympathetic look, patting her on the shoulder, and the touch shot sparks (not literal sparks, thank God) through her and made her shudder. That made Shadow wince, grimacing minutely, but she said nothing about it so neither did Lydia. If that was a result of her producing all her own magical energy, then… Wow.

“So what can you do with all that magic?”

“Oh, plenty of things,” Shadow said, seeming glad for a chance to talk, “I can fly, for one.”

“Really?”

“Mhm!” She grinned, then, “Want to see?”

“Absolutely.” Lydia agreed before she could even consider thinking better of it.

And Shadow more or less dragged her out to the back yard, hopped onto her parasol side-saddle like it was a broom or a horse, and zipped off. Lydia watched, jaw slack, as she flew around the back yard making hairpin turns and doing flips and generally looking like she was having a grand old time.

Finally, she came zooming back toward the porch and hopped off the parasol before it even stopped, landing on her feet with a solid thump―totally balanced and at ease with a grin on her face.

She… Had so much fun just being herself, it seemed. That was, honestly, really cool.

And a nice look at the future, even if this version of herself wasn’t the version she’d become because of, like, weird timeline things she didn’t really want to think too hard about right now. Because seeing her be happy and be herself and literally  _ command _ attention without even having to talk was  _ really cool. _ And Lydia was more than willing to take her as an example.

She’d known her for, like, twelve hours tops, sure, but how bad could a version of her who looked so happy really be?

Shadow joined them for dinner after that, and Delia seemed overly pleased when she commented on having missed her cooking. Lydia couldn’t help jokingly asking how bad college food was, which got her an amused, but stern look from Shadow while the other informed her that the college food was fine… If you liked MSG.

Lydia muffled her snicker in her elbow, and Delia didn’t even seem insulted by the jab. If anything she looked glad to see Lydia making jokes.

So.

Yeah.

Weird day, but she could get used to it.

* * *

_ “It’s summertime~,” _ Came Shadow’s voice from the spare room, singing along to a song on her weird future music player,  _ “Singin’ Al Green in your car, headin’ to a party~,” _

She’d been here for two days, now, and as it was, in fact, summer, Lydia, Adam, and Barbara were the only ones here right now.

And Lydia, who had grown inexplicably attached to Shadow, couldn’t help creeping closer to keep listening, because apparently at some point she’d learned to actually sing. At least well enough to sound nice even when Lydia couldn’t hear the music.

_ “And the night air feels alive! But in my life, never meant to cause no harm. Never hurt nobody~,” _ Shadow continued, and Lydia could see her twirling around through the partially open door, and everything but the heavy furniture was floating around with her,  _ “Just wanna take this chance to fly, on this summer night…” _

The song sounded like it might be coming to an end, but Lydia sat down quietly in the hallway anyway. Maybe Shadow would keep singing?

She didn’t know. She just thought it was kind of cool, was all.

_ “What were you doing in my dream last night, honey? Well, I thought I locked that door up tight, baby.” _ The new song seemed less Lydia’s thing, but she was sure it couldn’t be  _ that _ bad if Shadow liked it well enough to sing along,  _ “Well, it’s a mystery to me how you keep on slippin’ in my mind, and it’s downright dirty that this old wound won’t heal with time~!” _

And she sat, and she listened and watched while Shadow twirled and danced around her room, on occasion using her umbrella as a dance partner while everything floated around with her. She didn’t even seem to be  _ trying. _ She was just having fun, doing her own thing.

Lydia wanted that.

And, it occurred to her, the only way to get it was to… Start doing it.

Huh.

* * *

“Like this,” Shadow said, patiently, rubbing her hands together and waiting until Lydia was dutifully copying the motion, “Now, focus on a warm spark in your hands. Open ‘em and cup, palms up,” She demonstrated, a blue flame springing to life in her palms.

Lydia copied the motion, feeling warmth in her hands, and nearly squealed with joy when a smaller, but still  _ there, _ blue flame sprung up in her open hands.

“Great job, honey,” Shadow praised, grinning and looking so proud of her that Lydia kind of wanted to faint.

Like, she was doing a good job. She was getting the hang of this.

That was pretty cool!

There was still a lot of work she needed to do, but… Hey, for a first try? This was  _ great. _

* * *

Shadow, as it turned out, was not only a magical marvel and probably the happiest possible version of Lydia, but also a  _ hell _ of a businesswoman. She cut a deal like no other, except maybe her dad, and Lydia was kind of in awe of her as she stood, chin up, back straight, hands on her hips with a brow lifted high in an unimpressed stare. The white button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves and black pencil skirt smart black kitten heels really sold the whole visage something  _ fierce. _

“Oh, I  _ know _ what you  _ thought  _ you were going to do,” She said, lip curling in disdain, “But if I recall your agreement with Charles and Delia, what you’re  _ going _ to do is  _ properly _ renovate these floorboards with  _ quality _ materials, or so help me God your whole company will go bankrupt at the first sign of these floors being about to give out on somebody. I will sue your ass into the  _ ground.” _

The contractor, who had at first seemed very surly and sure of himself, seemed to shrink a little. “You can’t―”

“I  _ can,” _ She said, with so much authority that he shut right up, “And I  _ will. _ Now do the job, do it  _ right, _ and keep your filthy eyes off of my niece.”

“Yes Ma’am,” The contractor said, slightly pale.

“Good.” Shadow said, expression totally unchanged, “Off we go then, Lydia. I believe we have an ice cream date to be getting to.”

Lydia nodded, heading for the door, and she paused just long enough to see Shadow giving the man the sternest, most terrifying glower she’d ever seen before Shadow was ushering her out of the house.

“Your niece, huh?” Lydia asked, as they walked down into town.

Shadow had been with them for nearly four months now, and she fit right into the dynamic, if Lydia was honest. Not to mention she had her own money and generally didn’t seem too bothered by spending a little of it to help out around the house or buy Lydia ice cream. But this was the first Lydia had heard of  _ this _ cover story.

“Too old to be your sister,” Shadow shrugged, “Too young to be your mom. Just old enough to have been  _ her _ sister, though. Not to mention it’d make more sense for your aunt to be hanging out in the house and referring to your dad by his first name. Which, by the way, felt hella weird.”

“Aunt Shadow,” Lydia tested, considering it for a moment, “Sounds like an Addams Family character.”

“Doesn’t it?” Shadow chuckled, by way of agreement.

* * *

“It’s… Odd,” Adam said, “We were learning to control our powers at a… Reasonable pace. But lately it’s been coming so easily, and it takes so much longer to get tired from using them!”

“That may be my fault,” Shadow admitted, “I’m like a magic battery. I shed magic like freakin’  _ dandruff. _ It’d make sense if you guys were absorbing some of what comes off of me―not sure about the sudden change in difficulty, but the increase in amount of power could still have something to do with it.”

“A magic battery?” Barbara asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Shadow smiled, “I produce more magical energy than I can use on a day-to-day basis. A lot of it just gets stored up, and what doesn’t get stored gets shed. Downside of being so damn good at magic as a breather is that the better you get, the more energy you produce to compensate for your skill. Leaves us Strange and Unusual folks with way more than we can use without going over the top about it or pulling off whole rituals, since we already produce a lot of it to begin with.”

“You really have been studying this a long time, haven’t you?” Barbara seemed pleasantly stunned.

“She said she started around my age,” Lydia piped, “So at least nine years.”

Shadow smiled, again.

“That would also explain your… Showmanship,” Adam said, eyes crinkling a little.

“Guilty,” Shadow confirmed, “I already shed magic like dandruff, why not toss a little extra into my spells? Helps keep me at a manageable level of magic.”

“That’s so cool,” Lydia mumbled, unsure what else to say and not even intending to say it.

Shadow winked, and little sparks of glitter sprang out of the motion.

* * *

“You put the Peeps in the chili pot, you add the M&Ms, you put the Peeps in the chili pot, it makes it taste… Bad.” Shadow half-sang, swinging her way around the kitchen and, thankfully, not actually putting any Peeps or M&Ms into any chili.

“Do I… Want to know?” Lydia ventured, raising her brows.

“Oh, TV show I watched,” Shadow waved a hand, snagging a floating jar of spices out of the air, using it, and then letting it go, “We’re further back in the timeline than I expected, so it won’t come out for a while longer―2016ish?”

“Jesus.” Lydia said, “So everything took place a few years later in your universe, huh? Like, it all happened the same but just… Like… A decade or two later than here?”

“Something like that. I’d have to pin down exact dates to know for sure and I just don’t feel like it right now.”

“Don’t blame you,” Lydia agreed, looking around the kitchen at all the floating utensils, and especially at the whisk going at the egg whites with abandon over next to the sink, “You seem a bit busy.”

“I’m making pumpkin pie!” Shadow informed her, grinning, “And cinnamon rolls. And cookies because I feel like it.”

“You just can’t do one thing at a time, huh?”

“Sure can’t!”

As if to prove it, she dropped the bowl of ingredients she was holding―or, well,  _ let go of it _ and left it sitting in the air like she was still holding it―and moved to begin rolling out the pie dough. And  _ then _ she started singing.

_ “Don’t go in there, you’ll become one. Freaky creatures, monster party. Eyes of yellow, scales and feathers, tails and tethers, turn the lights off!” _

And Lydia found herself laughing, because yet again she couldn’t help thinking that she wanted what Shadow had―that happiness, that total lack of a care in the world for whether someone heard her singing or saw her levitating the whole kitchen while she tried to cook, that  _ comfort _ with herself and who she was―, and yet again she was struck by the realization that they only way to get it was to  _ give it to herself. _

So, because she’d heard this song enough times in the year that Shadow had lived with them, she grinned when she was done laughing, took a breath, and launched into it with her at the chorus.

_ “Everybody likes to get taken for turns, to see how bright the fire inside of us burns, and everybody wants to get evil tonight, but all good devils masquerade under the light!” _

* * *

“You really just… Give off this… Eccentric businesswoman feel.” Lydia admitted, even through her brow was knitted in concentration while she tried to weave a flower crown.

“Eccentric businesswoman is definitely one I haven’t heard before,” Shadow chuckled, fingers flickering through the weaving of her own much quicker from years of practice, “But I’m not surprised. I run a photography business out of my house, so…”

“It’s the way you dress, mostly,” The teen admitted, “Mixed in with how freakin’  _ weird _ you are.”

“I  _ am _ pretty freakin’ weird,” Shadow agreed, unbothered, “But normal is for  _ chumps.” _

“What’s the point in a status quo, anyway?”

“Control.”

“Good point.”

“... So I dress like a businesswoman. Not something I ever thought I’d hear.”

“Blouses, button-ups, pencil skirts, high-waisted pants… And you tuck your shirts in. But it’s definitely a good look. You make it work.”

Shadow just laughed a little, pausing in her weaving to pick at the black polish on one of her nails.

“The nails, too,” Lydia noted, now that she remembered them, “They’re like freakin’  _ talons _ but that just lends to the feel.”

“I keep them like that on purpose,” Shadow acknowledged, flexing her fingers a little, “Never know when you might need to claw out somebody’s jugular with your fingernails.”

“Ever had to use them?”

“Not yet, thank goodness.” A snort, “Usually a good smack works just as well.”

They resumed their weaving, and Shadow sat and waited after she was done for Lydia to finish up. Then, she plopped her creation onto Lydia’s head and leaned down to let Lydia do the same to her. They giggled.

“Now,” Shadow said, “About that homework…”

Lydia groaned, but she knew she needed to do it, so she picked herself up off the grass and followed Shadow inside so that they could sit down and puzzle through the biology questions together.

* * *

“Do you really have to go?” Lydia asked, feeling honestly a little betrayed but knowing it only made sense.

Shadow gave her a small smile, patting her head, “I do.” She confirmed, then,  _ “But.” _ She poked her nose, “Now that I know how to hop dimensions on my own, without jerkwads throwing me through, I can stop by and visit whenever I get the chance. Okay?”

“Okay,” Lydia agreed.

Shadow swept her up into a hug that lasted both  _ just _ long enough and  _ not _ long enough. Pressed a kiss to her forehead, grinned, and twirled with her parasol―because it  _ was _ a parasol, not an umbrella―and popped out of existence in a shower of sparks. And Lydia was sad to see her go, but…

Well.

She was sixteen, now, going on seventeen, and she’d learned a lot from Shadow while she was here. She was well on her way to learning magic, she was really starting to embrace being weird as hell, and she’d been practicing that withering glower of Shadow’s and it seemed to be gaining potency if the way people were starting to back off when she gave it was any indication. She really felt like she could take on the world.

And Shadow would be back.

She was sure of that.

She’d just have to wait for her to come and visit.

And, in the meantime, as weird as it felt, she could start to be unapologetically  _ herself _ and start truly embracing the way that she was. After all―Shadow had said something Adam and Barbara and Delia had all agreed with, once.

She’d said that any relationship where you have to somehow be less  _ you _ was not a relationship worth having.

And Lydia was starting to agree as well.

Sure, she had bad qualities that she was trying to work on, but those parts were still part of her, and accepting them (and having those around her accept her despite them) was the first step toward resolving them.

So, letting herself cry for a moment because the departure still  _ sucked, _ she swiftly moved on.

* * *

_ “All my instincts, they return,” _ Lydia found herself singing while she balanced precariously on the edge of the porch, struggling to maintain a good position while she lined up her camera,  _ “And the grand facade, so soon will burn. Without a noise, without my pride… I reach out from the inside…” _

Picture taken, she grinned… And toppled off the porch.

She caught herself, face inches from the ground, with a pulse of magic―she couldn’t fly, yet, but she was learning to catch herself when she fell, so at least there was that!

She laughed, pinwheeling her arms where she was otherwise frozen until her free hand gripped something to help pull herself up. The picture of the sunset was  _ totally _ worth it. It looked  _ so nice. _ It was  _ definitely _ going to win her the photography contest at the school―not that that had ever been a question. She knew she took the best photos, because she’d been doing it the longest.

And if she won the contest, that meant she  _ might _ be able to get a scholarship. And if she got the scholarship, that was less money coming out of her dad’s pockets to pay for her college tuition. And winning the contest and getting that scholarship would look  _ great _ when she started trying to find places to work until she could get her own business up and running.

To say that her dad was pleased with her deciding to take that cue from Shadow would be an understatement. He was very proud of her for choosing to start her own business, and he was certain that she’d do well, which really helped  _ her _ feel like she’d do well.

She wondered, though, if she’d have decided to take this route if Shadow hadn’t showed up.

She guessed, ultimately, it didn’t matter.

What was done was done, and having had Shadow’s influence for so long (and in spurts, now, when she came to visit) definitely put her in a prime position to feel like she could conquer the world with nothing but a pencil skirt and a skull-patterned blouse. And wasn’t that all that mattered? That she trusted herself,  _ loved _ herself, enough to believe she had that kind of power?

She could take anything the world threw at her, now. She was  _ sure _ of that.

Even if it was as weird as Shadow falling out of the ceiling into their kitchen all that time ago.

**Author's Note:**

> _"I'm just like you,  
>  You're just like me.  
> It's something anyone can see.  
> It's plain as day,  
> Sure as the sky is blue,  
> That I am a girl like you."_
> 
> songs used, in order of appearance are:  
> Summer Nights - SIAMES  
> Kill! Kill! Kill! - The Pierces  
> Turn the Lights Off - Tally Hall  
> In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel


End file.
